Chemical contrast observed in thermal images of blood-stained fabrics exposed to steam

O’Brien, Wayne L.; Boltin, Nicholas; Lu, Zhenyu; Cassidy, Brianna M.; Belliveau, Raymond G.; Straub, Emory J.; DeJong, Stephanie A.; Morgan, Stephen L.; Myrick, Michael L.

doi:10.1039/c5an01413a

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…For example, X-ray fluorescence can be used as a presumptive test for semen and blood . Infrared (IR) imaging can help to visualize latent bloodstains at a crime scene. − Human serum, saliva, seminal fluid, and urine can be discriminated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) . Alternatively, the Fourier transform IR spectra of peripheral blood, saliva, semen, and vaginal fluid are unique enough to suggest the body fluids can be visually differentiated .…”

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confidence: 99%

Sex Determination Based on Raman Spectroscopy of Saliva Traces for Forensic Purposes

2016

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The forensic analysis of body fluids has made great strides in recent years. Body fluids can easily be identified, and DNA analysis can be used to link a stain found at a crime scene to a specific person. When no reference DNA profile is available and the recovered DNA does not yield a match in a database, it would be incredibly useful if the evidence could still provide investigators with useful information. Biocatalytic and immunoassays can be used to determine a donor's sex, race, and other phenotypic characteristics. However, these tests depend on chemical reactions and are destructive to the sample. Here, we used Raman spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis to develop a nondestructive technique that could be used at a crime scene to determine the sex of a saliva donor. Our internally cross-validated classification model correctly identified 44 (92%) of the 48 donors used for model training. Subsequent external validation correctly identified 11 (92%) of the 12 donors saved for testing. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the value of Raman spectroscopy as a forensic tool, and indicates that it can be used to elucidate phenotypic information about a body fluid donor. Future studies will expand to other body fluids and additional donor characteristics, such as race and age.

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confidence: 99%

Sex Determination Based on Raman Spectroscopy of Saliva Traces for Forensic Purposes

2016

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“…5,6 The Myrick laboratory recently reported steam thermography for imaging stains on fabrics through contrast in the apparent fabric temperature immediately on exposure to water vapor. 7,8 In our report we identified possible mechanisms for the apparent temperature contrast, one of which was differential infrared emissivity of the fabric on exposure to moisture. Moisture uptake is known to affect other textile properties such as swelling, heat transport, electrical conductivity, and the perceived comfort of clothing.…”

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confidence: 81%

“…The purple acrylic, brown polyester, green nylon, and red cotton fabrics used in this study have been the subject of several publications by this laboratory, and are consolidated here in Table 1, along with the properties of the fabrics and the fibers they are composed of, including the dyes used for each fabric. 7,8,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Each fabric was commercially obtained undyed, and subsequently triple-dyed at North Carolina State University's Wilson College of Textiles in 2004.…”

Section: Sample Fabricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mid-infrared emissivity of nylon, cotton, acrylic, and polyester fabrics as a function of moisture content

Belliveau

DeJong

Boltin

et al. 2019

Textile Research Journal

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The effectiveness of material to emit energy as thermal radiation is important in determining the apparent temperature in infrared thermographic measurements. For this reason, a number of measurements of the thermal emissivity in the mid-infrared thermographic (8–12 µm) region have been reported for fabrics. However, many fabrics adsorb moisture from the air, and condensed water has a relatively high thermal emissivity. In this manuscript, we report measurements of adsorption isotherms and mid-infrared thermal emissivity for nylon, cotton, polyester, and acrylic as a function of their moisture content in weight percent at temperatures just above ambient. We find that the order of water mass percentage gain for the fabrics in high humidity conditions are polyester < acrylic < nylon < cotton. The thermal emissivity is ∼0.88 independent of moisture content for the fabrics polyester, cotton, and nylon, while acrylic shows a pronounced increase in thermal emissivity as moisture content increases, ranging from ɛ ∼ 0.81 at low humidity conditions to ɛ ∼ 0.88 under high humidity conditions. In this work, emissivity measurements are made by imaging through a novel infrared window made from household cling wrap and interpreted with equations that are independent of window transmittance and sample temperature.

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Identification of individual red blood cells by Raman microspectroscopy for forensic purposes: in search of a limit of detection

Muro

Lednev

2016

Anal Bioanal Chem

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Traces of body fluids can be present at a variety of crime scenes. It is important that forensic investigators have a reliable and nondestructive method of identifying these traces. Of equal importance is establishing the limitations of any method in use, including its detection limit. We have previously reported on the use of Raman microspectroscopy and multivariate data analysis to identify and differentiate body fluids. While many studies use serial dilutions to establish limits of detection, we utilized a different approach and demonstrated that a single red blood cell is sufficient to be correctly identified as blood. The experimental Raman spectra of individual red blood cells were loaded into the previously reported models for body fluid identification, and all were correctly classified as peripheral blood. These results demonstrate that our model can be used to identify peripheral blood, even if there is only a single red blood cell present. Furthermore, a single red blood cell is 5000× smaller than the amount of peripheral blood required to perform DNA analysis in a modern crime laboratory. This means that if a bloodstain is large enough for DNA analysis, Raman microspectroscopy should be able to make a positive identification. Considering that the sample analysis reported here was carried out with a different instrument, not the one used for the previously reported method development, these results also represent a form of method validation. The model's ability to correctly classify spectra acquired on a different instrumental platform is crucial in preparing it for practical application. Graphical Abstract Peripheral blood is of great interest in forensic sciences. While many tests are available for the identification of peripheral blood at a crime scene, most are presumptive and destructive. Here we present results that show our new, nondestructive method can identify peripheral blood using as little as a single red blood cell.

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Chemical contrast observed in thermal images of blood-stained fabrics exposed to steam

Abstract: Thermal imaging is not ordinarily a good way to visualize chemical contrast. In recent work, however, we observed strong and reproducible images with chemical contrasts on blood-stained fabrics, especially on more hydrophobic fabrics like acrylic and polyester.

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Sex Determination Based on Raman Spectroscopy of Saliva Traces for Forensic Purposes

Sex Determination Based on Raman Spectroscopy of Saliva Traces for Forensic Purposes

Mid-infrared emissivity of nylon, cotton, acrylic, and polyester fabrics as a function of moisture content

Identification of individual red blood cells by Raman microspectroscopy for forensic purposes: in search of a limit of detection

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